Glee: To the Next Level (the second book in the Glee series)

Chapter 40: Valentine Grams

***

"Tell me," Alex whispered to Amity during English. "What's your favorite love song?"

She looked up at him, blushing. "What's it to you?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh, no reason," he answered. "It's not like it's Valentine's week or anything."

She put on her most serious face and whispered, "Up until this year it's always been Eric Carmen's 'All by Myself' so..."

Alex looked at her with a blank look on his face. "You're kidding," he said. "That is sad."

"What's so sad?" asked Mr. Seifried as he approached them with an angry look on his face.

"This book," said Alex, looking down at the book in his hand. "Angela's Ashes."

"Oh yeah?" said Mr. Seifried. "And what's so sad about it?"

Amity looked at Alex with an expectant gaze, knowing he had not read a single page since they were assigned the novel. "Umm..." he said. "You know... the part with Angela and the, uh... the... the ashes..?"

"Detention," said Mr. Seifried as he walked away. "After class."

"Fantastic," said Alex to Amity. "And I was planning on singing you whatever song you said during lunch but now I can't."

"Oof..." said Amity, pretending this had bummed her out. "That would've really made my day."

He laughed and said, "There's still an entire week left. And hey, I can even pay the Christian Club to do a singing gram and serenade you for me."

"You realize I'd be one of the singers, right?" she said. He nodded proudly and the two laughed, only to look away from each other innocently when Mr. Seifried shot them a look.

***

"So oi wus tinkin," Rory said as he and Sugar made their way over to the choir room after school. "Maybe nigh dat we've been official for a few weeks, we shud consummate our relationship."

Sugar gasped. "You mean..." she mumbled. "You think we should... you know... do it..?"

Rory shrugged, his face flushed. "Only if you want to," he said. Sugar thought about this for a second.

"No thanks!" she exclaimed merrily. "I'm good!" She walked on with quick strides and a defeated Rory struggled to keep up.

A few steps behind, Marley and Jake were walking to class together. "So it's something personal then?" Marley mumbled.

"Yes," Jake said. "We are not dating. She is just going through some stuff."

"Is she okay?" she asked concerned.

Jake nodded. "I think so," he said. "I appreciate the concern and I'm sure she will too, but right now I think she just needs space until she can come forward and share what she's going through."

"Well..." Marley mumbled hesitantly. "I guess... But since she's let you in, just know that you have the responsibility to tell someone if she's in danger!"

Jake looked over at Marley. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I don't know," she shrugged, not wanting to say the wrong thing. "Just... Look out for her okay. Julie's a fragile girl and..."

"She's stronger than you'd think," he said automatically.

"I know," Marley said, nodding in agreement when she saw how defensive he got. "Just watch out for her, okay?"

Jake decided not to question what Marley meant any further and simply nodded as they continued on to the choir room. They made it just as Julie, Kitty and Bree rounded the corner of the hallway.